Month: January 2018

What I’m reading: Principles: Life and Work Today was a puttering day. I cleaned out some of the garage. Adjusted the calipers on the Ariel Atom. Found places for the Shopsmith attachments. Took a bunch of crap to recycling. Stripped my ‘art wall’ to make room for Sandras work. Did a 5 mile hike in the …

That was no State of the Union address tonight. That was the death of Democratic Party. President Trump was positive, optimistic, and energized as he pointed out one success after another. The stock market soars. Wages rise. Factories return. Taxes fall. Bonuses arrive. The president delivered applause line after applause line, not through well-turned phrases …

A novel is not just some random collection of events. A novel is a story. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and they’re connected. There’s a direction to the story. The beginning is about the lead character’s pursuit of a certain ending. The middle is about all the complications that come from pursuing that …

Seneca had a rule for those who have been placed in a high position or accumulated success or power: “Bestow pardon for many things; seek pardon for none.” By that he meant that with power comes responsibility. A responsibility to be understanding and lenient with those who work for and with you, as well as a …

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. 2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. 3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. 4. Every sentence …

What I’m reading: The Stepford Wives (I wanted to get a feel for his voice and underlying beat – I think I did). Did editing today, too much editing, I think I might have over edited Becca, even though I think she was perfect to start with, I will give it another look when I am …

Getting stuff done is a matter of attacking each day like it’s an obstacle course in a mud run. Because that’s pretty much what it is. You can attack your day any way you like, based on the way your brain is wired and your own personal style of getting stuff done. Today I’ll toss out for your …

Rome was filled with a number of rituals and practices that seem baffling today. They had distinct hereditary classes. Only certain classes and ages and positions could wear certain color togas or capes. These distinctions of importance and blood trickled down as far as dinner parties, in which certain guests were given better positions on …

What I’m reading: How To Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication Yup, as you can see I am getting pretty desperate to get Molly back into the jeep. The book was not bad, in fact I would recommend it to any dog owner. My Sister tells me I ought to pick her up and …

I don’t take paid ads for this website. I do, however, recommend products that I think will have value to my readers. This month I’m recommending Scrivener, a widely used word-processing tool. I used to use Microsoft Word. I switched to Scrivener years ago because (in my opinion) Scrivener is way better than Word. What’s to …